SPORTS: Washington Capitals

2011-12

Made 35 saves for his 4th win of the season and was named First Star on 4/7 at NYR.  Came on in relief of Michal Neuvirth and made 12 saves for the win on 4/5 vs. FLA.  Recorded first shutout of season and was the game’s First Star on 3/25 vs. MIN.  Stopped 27 of 28 shots in shootout loss to PHI on 3/22.  Made 30 saves for first win of the season on 3/19 at DET.  Recalled on 3/18 from Hershey (AHL).  20-15-2 with a 2.61 GAA and a .906 SV% in 40 games with Hershey at the time of recall.  Finished 5th in the NHL in postseason wins, 3rd in goals-against average and save percentage and 5th in playoff minutes (922) and saves (429).  Became just the third goaltender to own a .920 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average or better (in a minimum of 13 games played) in the playoffs at age 22 or younger (Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy).  Went all 14 postseason games without suffering back-to-back losses.  Set a Capitals rookie record with 14 playoff games and tied a rookie record with seven wins in a single postseason.  Became the third rookie goaltender to defeat the defending Stanley Cup champions in a playoff series (Montreal’s Ken Dryden and Calgary’s Mike Vernon), defeating Boston in seven games in the ECQF.  Became the seventh rookie goaltender to post an overtime win in Game 7 of a playoff series and the first since Buffalo’s Steve Shields defeated Ottawa in 1997.  Earned his second career NHL playoff win in Game 4 of the quarterfinals against Boston, stopping 44 of the 45 shots he faced.  His 44 saves were the second-most in the expansion era in a regulation playoff win for a rookie goaltender since Ken Dryden made 46 stops for Montreal in a 4-2 win against Boston on April 16, 1971.

Career

2010-11: Named NHL’s First Star of the Week for the week ending 3/13, going 4-0-0 with a 1.05 goals-against average, .965 save percentage and one shutout.  Won his last five starts.  Recorded an 18-save shutout in an emergency start 3/26 at MTL.  His assist on Marcus Johansson’s first period, power-play goal on 3/15 at MTL was the only assist for a Washington goaltender and the first since Jose Theodore assisted on an Alexander Semin power-play goal in a 5-4 overtime loss to OTT on 3/30/10.  Set single-game career high with 40 saves 3/11 vs. CAR.  Made 22 saves for his first career shutout 3/9 vs. EDM.  Went 5-0-1 in five games from 1/20 to 3/11, stopping 170 of 174 shots (.978).  Ranked tied for eighth in the AHL in goals-against average (2.29) and 11th in save percentage (.920).  Tied for sixth in the league with five shutouts.  Was named to the Eastern Conference AHL All-Star Team but did not play.

2009-10: Dressed in five games as the Capitals’ backup goaltender ... Split his first professional season between Hershey (AHL) and South CAR (ECHL).  Played in the 2009-10 ECHL All-Star Game.  Led Hershey in wins with a 24-8-2 record.  Ranked fourth in the AHL, first among rookies, with a 2.32 goals-against average.  His .917 save percentage was 10th in the league and led all rookies.  Won nine games in a row from 12/12—1/9, holding opponents to one goal five times and two goals three times in that stretch.  Had a season-high 44 saves in a 5-3 win 3/17 at Binghamton.  Posted a 7-2-1-2 mark for South CAR.  Made three playoff starts for Hershey, winning two.  Both wins came in overtime.

Junior Career

2008-09: Played 61 games for Saskatoon (WHL), ranking second in the league in wins (40) and tied for third in shutouts (six).  Named the WHL’s Eastern Conference Goaltender of the Year and was a finalist for WHL Goaltender of the Year.  Finished eighth in the WHL with a 2.62 GAA and finished seventh with a .910 save percentage.  Had a 10- game winning streak from 1/13—2/8 and a nine-game winning streak from 10/4—10/28.  Registered 159 minutes of shutout hockey from 12/27—1/3, including back-to-back shutouts.  Finished the playoffs with a 2.32 GAA and a .912 save percentage.  Allowed only one goal in three of his seven playoff games.  Joined Hershey at the end of the Blades’ season and was a backup for one game in the Calder Cup run.

2007-08: Played in 64 games for Saskatoon.  Finished 15th in the WHL with a .908 save percentage while facing the second-most shots of any goaltender (1,875).  Ranked fourth among North American goaltenders in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by Central Scouting.

2006-07: Led Saskatoon with 17 wins.  Recorded a four-game winning streak (12/15—1/5).  Ranked second among rookie goaltenders in the WHL with a 3.21 GAA.

2005-06: Stopped 49 shots in his debut with Saskatoon.

NHL Transactions

Capitals’ fourth-round choice, 93rd overall, in the 2008 Entry Draft.

Personal

His father, Greg, was a goaltender for the Saskatoon Blades and the University of Saskatoon.  Favorite player as a kid was Patrick Roy.  A baseball and golf fan who roots for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Mets.  Favorite athlete is Albert Pujols.